Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Votra
“So you hired her?”
Qaed’s voice dripped with judgment that Votra really didn’t need right now.
He reclined in what was now Candy’s chair, crossing one long leg over the other.
It was still early in the morning, and unfortunately for Votra, Qaed’s go-to when he couldn’t sleep was to come and bother Votra at work.
Only this time, he had an ulterior motive.
“I needed someone quickly. You know this.” Votra didn’t look up from her computer screen. “She was the first interview I had.”
“Yeah, and every other interview you had lined up had more experience than her.” He smirked, folding his arms over his chest. “I never would have pegged you as someone who thinks with her dick.”
That drew Votra’s attention. She ripped her gaze from the screen, narrowing her eyes at him. “I am not.”
Was she? It was only then that she realized that this was a pattern.
She and Zeele had only started working together because they were dating–software development wasn’t even on Votra’s radar at the time.
But she’d learned, for Zeele. And now the tables had turned and she was going to be teaching Candy rather than having an equal to help her get the work done faster.
Her shoulders drooped. Developing an app was lonely.
Ever since Zeele left, Votra confined herself to her office upwards of twelve hours a day, only taking breaks to eat and sleep.
She hardly even saw Qaed anymore. Votra was prone to hyperfixation, and it tended to consume her life; her social life was at the very bottom of her hierarchy of needs.
Except for mornings like this, when she craved it, when she realized just how much she missed it. Even when Qaed was purposefully riling her up, she liked having him around. And maybe that was why she’d hired Candy.
That night had been so… easy. And that wasn’t something Votra experienced very often.
“I mean, I am not saying it as a bad thing. It is about time you let yourself be lost to the throes of carnal desire.”
Votra swatted at his leg. “Enough. I am now responsible for teaching her and getting the app ready for the launch event at the end of the month. I have enough on my plate without worrying about… that.”
But gods, did she still desire Candy. If she was going to keep wearing those blouses that barely restrained her incredible breasts, Votra wasn’t going to survive.
She was truly no better than a man.
“Good morning!” Candy chirped.
Shit, Votra hadn’t even heard her come in.
“Good morning.” Votra slipped back into Universal–it was probably a safe bet Candy didn’t speak Qin, which was great considering Qaed’s casual use of the phrase ‘carnal desire.’
Luckily, Candy had spared Votra from the ill-fitting blouses today in favor of a silky white top under a black blazer and a skirt that was probably too short to be professional. Votra wasn’t sure she minded.
Qaed honed in on her, rising from his seat–her seat, actually–and approaching her. “Votra did not mention how cute you were,” he said smoothly, and Candy’s shocked expression quickly morphed into a shy smile. “It is so nice to meet you, Candy. I have heard so much.”
“Oh, you have?” Candy shot Votra a look, and she immediately wanted to disappear into her chair. “Wait, are you Qaed?”
“That depends on what you have heard about me.”
To Votra’s surprise, Candy immediately hugged him.
“Only good things, I promise,” Candy said.
She had to lift her head to look at him; while they were both small for qintaril, Qaed and Votra stood at least half a foot taller than Candy, maybe a little less in her heels.
Those heels looked really good on her, made her already gorgeous legs look even longer.
She could tell from the look in his eyes that he was already being won over by her. Great, that was just what Votra needed–Qaed nagging her about Candy all the time.
“Hm, I am not sure I believe that.” He took Candy’s seat again, and Candy’s eyes followed him.
“Do you not have somewhere to be?” Votra asked pointedly. She wasn’t in a hurry for him to leave, but something told him that having him and Candy in the same room was a recipe for disaster. He wasn’t a subtle person, nor did he attempt to be.
“No. The life of the unemployed is glorious.” He folded his arms behind his head. “Just pretend like I am not here. I know you two have a lot to do.”
“Kinda hard to do with you in my seat.” Candy raised her eyebrows at him, and his eyes lit up with excitement. He was enjoying this too much.
He stood, gesturing to the seat with a flourish. “I was just warming it up for you, my dear.”
Candy giggled, sitting in the chair and wiggling a little.
“It’s just the perfect amount of warm, thank you.
” She adjusted the seat to its lowest setting, but even still, her feet dangled a few inches off the ground.
Votra definitely hadn’t bought the desk chairs with human physiology in mind, and she made a mental note to buy a new one.
“My pleasure.” Qaed stretched his arms over his head. “Alright, I suppose I will get out of your way. You must let me know if Votra gives you a hard time.”
Votra was actually going to kill him.
“Don’t worry, I will,” Candy said sweetly, and Qaed swooped in to steal one more quick hug. He sent an infuriating wink in Votra’s direction before, thankfully, leaving the office.
“I love him,” Candy said the second the door closed behind him.
Votra snorted. “Do not tell him that. His ego does not need to be any bigger.” Her comm buzzed with a message from Qaed, and an uncomfortable warmth spread through her chest.
I love her.
Ideally, she wouldn’t have let them meet yet.
This felt too intimate, this tangling of her two worlds.
Qaed had hated Zeele from the moment he met her, and it caused nothing but trouble.
They were at each other’s throats whenever they had the chance to, banishing Votra to a life of mediating between her two favorite people in the world.
So it was hard not to take Qaed immediately loving Candy as a sign. Ultimately, he’d been right about Zeele. Was he right about Candy, too?
Candy drummed her pink-nailed fingertips on the arms of her chair. “Okay, boss. What’s on the agenda for today?”
Right. Work. That was what they were here for. “Well, I thought that I could go over the scope of the virtual reality setup and we could do some work on it.”
“Sick.” Candy stood, and Votra wasn’t entirely sure if that meant she was excited or not. “I’m ready to learn.”
And Votra was ready to teach. She had to be.
She led Candy into the room attached to the office that she’d been using for testing the virtual reality software.
She’d kept the room as simple as possible, furnished only with a bed, a dresser, and a small black rug for the purpose of testing how the software reacted to the furniture in the room.
Light streamed in from a window on the opposite wall.
“My goal for the virtual reality feature is to integrate it into comms without any external hardware, so that it can be utilized in any closed room,” Votra started.
With a few taps on the screen of her comm, she navigated through Starcrossed to project the test VR room she’d been toying with for the past few weeks.
There weren’t many features yet–the projection around them turned the room into a simple but cozy bedroom, with blue satin curtains framing the single window and a rug on the floor that was more for looks than anything.
The bed morphed into a slightly nicer one, with a thick, fluffy comforter that matched the curtains and at least two more pillows.
“So the VR can detect things that are actually in the room?” Candy asked, placing a testing hand on the windowpane.
“Yes. So it will transform the look of what is in the room already. Not every virtual reality room will be modeled after a bedroom. I am hoping to have some that are outside as well, to encourage casual dates without the pretense of being in a bedroom.”
“So how does it work with two people in different locations?”
“One participant hosts the room, and the projection will be mirrored in both locations. The software will render the participants in a way that makes sense, as long as they are just sitting or standing rather than making any big movements.”
“Got it.” Candy trailed her hand along the fake curtains, her fingertips phasing through them. “How much do people have to pay for this? I mean, this is really cool.”
“They are not paying for it,” Votra said.
She puffed her chest out slightly, preparing herself for pushback.
“It is not my goal to hide any integral features behind a paywall. Anything that consumers elect to purchase will be things like premium virtual reality rooms, rooms that take a bit of extra effort to make.”
“I like that.” She perched on the edge of the bed, smoothing her hands over the comforter. “I can’t believe you’ve done all this on your own. This is, like, really impressive, Votra.”
She couldn’t let herself bask in the warmth spreading through her at Candy’s praise. But it felt nice to be recognized. Zeele hadn’t wanted to waste time on the virtual reality aspect–it was useless, in her eyes, unless they were charging people for it.
“This is a premium feature” was her favorite phrase. “People would pay big money for this. We would be shooting ourselves in the foot if we let it go for free.” Was Votra so wrong for wanting people to have nice things without spending their hard earned money on it?
“Thank you,” she said shyly. “I fear that I have bitten off more than I can chew, but I am glad that you are here now to help.”
“Yep. This is our baby now.” She grimaced. “Sorry. Not our baby. I mean, I guess there are worse babies that could come from a one night stand….” She stopped. “Not that babies are bad. I don’t hate babies. I’m not a monster.”
Candy was so cute, it was starting to piss Votra off. If she managed to survive this month without kissing her, she’d be proud of herself.
“Shall we get to work?” Votra opened the door for her and led her back into the office.
And now, they were going to work. And that was it.
Votra leaned over the back of Candy’s chair once she sat, leading her through the different programs used to code the virtual reality features.
She had to admit, Candy was every bit as smart as she claimed to be in the interview.
She soaked up Votra’s instructions like a sponge. She didn’t have to repeat herself once.
Though, she did end up repeating herself because the position she’d put herself in proved to be very distracting.
She could see directly down Candy’s shirt, and a good half of her brain power was occupied by reminding herself not to look.
And somehow, she’d developed a Pavlovian response to the sugary smell of Candy’s perfume.
She was half-hard and Candy was hardly saying a word.
“So, how do you feel?” Votra asked. “Do you think that this is something you will be able to handle?”
“Oh, definitely. I got this, don’t you worry.”
“Good.” The tiny hairs lining Candy’s neck stood at attention, and Votra let herself revel in having that effect on her for just a second before she moved away. “So I will probably have you work on the design for some room elements and build out the framework for them. Is that alright?”
“Hey, you’re the boss. I’ll do whatever you want me to,” Candy said. She knew what Candy meant, but she’d be damned if the words didn’t go immediately between Votra’s legs. Gods, get yourself together.
She relegated herself to her own seat, forcing distance between them to keep her dick under control. “We are a team now. I am not necessarily your boss. If there is anything that you think is not working or anything that can be improved in any way, I expect you to tell me.”
“Really?” When Votra looked up, Candy had turned in her seat to look at her, her eyes a fraction wider. “Are you sure?”
This was a strange change of pace. Starcrossed, back before it was Starcrossed, wasn’t Votra’s at all, despite the fact that its inception had been her idea.
Everything was Zeele’s, and Votra’s opinions were generally brushed off.
And she’d grown used to that. No matter how long she’d worked on it, no matter how much of her time she’d put in, she would probably let Candy railroad her if she felt the need to.
“Yes. I am but one set of eyes. Surely, there are things that you will find that I have missed.”
“I doubt it. Starcrossed is really amazing, Votra, and I’m not just saying that because you sign my paychecks.” Candy grinned, and Votra’s heart thrummed in her chest. “Not that it means much coming from me. You have way more experience than I do.”
But her opinion did matter, maybe a little too much. “I appreciate that,” she said quietly, turning her attention back to her computer. “It does mean a lot. I have put years of my life into this, and I fear the whole thing is starting to blur. It is difficult to be objective about it.”
“Well, objectively, you did a great job.” Votra wasn’t looking at Candy, but she was painfully aware of her eyes on her. “I just hope that my work can be on par with yours.”
“I am not concerned,” Votra said. She’d been working up to this, this relinquishing control, placing what felt like her life’s work into someone else’s hands.
Showing Candy Starcrossed’s code felt like laying her soul bare in front of her, and strangely enough, she trusted her with it.
She wasn’t sure there was much she wouldn’t trust Candy Murdock with.